This week in Crew Brunel has been full of preparation, reflection, and celebration. From getting ready for presentations to coming together for our final whole-school community meeting with Year 11, every day brought something meaningful.

We started the week with our usual weekend check-in, giving everyone the opportunity to share how they were feeling and reconnect as a crew after the weekend. These conversations continue to help strengthen our relationships and create a supportive start to the week. Alongside our check-ins, we spent time making final preparations for our Wise Wednesday presentations. Everyone worked hard to make sure they were organised, confident, and ready to present their ideas and learning.

On Tuesday, we focused on sorting through lost property. Students worked together to organise and display lost personal belongings in order to take photographs for the Lost Property blog post. It was a simple but important reminder about responsibility and supporting each other as a community. The activity also linked closely to the values of the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award programme, particularly teamwork, service, and taking responsibility for helping others.

Wednesday gave students the opportunity to explore future pathways by looking at GCSE options, particularly Creative and Global subjects. Students discussed the courses available, thought about their interests and ambitions, and asked thoughtful questions about what their next steps could look like. It was great to see students engaging positively with conversations about their futures and beginning to think carefully about the opportunities ahead of them.

On Thursday, we were joined by Crew Sinfield and Crew Peake. Together, we reflected on the week by looking at praises and conducts. This was a valuable opportunity to celebrate successes, recognise positive contributions, and discuss how we can continue to improve as individuals and as crews. The collaborative atmosphere helped encourage honesty, reflection, and encouragement between students.

Friday’s whole-school community meeting was packed with highlights and celebrations from across the school. One of the standout moments was seeing the Year 8 final product work focused on migration. Students showcased an impressive wall painting project using stencils and spray paint to creatively express themes connected to migration. The artwork demonstrated both creativity and teamwork. We also heard from a water safety awareness expert who visited Year 7 students to raise awareness about staying safe around water. The session was informative, engaging, and incredibly important as we move towards the summer months. Another exciting update came from Year 10 students who recently completed their DofE Silver practice expedition. It was fantastic to hear about their resilience, teamwork, and determination throughout the experience.

As always, the meeting included appreciations, apologies, and stands, giving students and staff the chance to recognise one another, reflect honestly, and celebrate positive actions across the school. There was also an important stand made around following the XP character traits. It was recognised that there have been a few incidents recently where students have not demonstrated these values as positively as they could. This was an opportunity to remind everyone of the importance of showing respect, compassion, courage, and integrity, and to encourage students to put things right moving forward.

Finally, this community meeting marked the last one with our Year 11 students before they move on to their next steps. It was a special moment to recognise their journey, contributions, and the impact they have had on the school community.

This week showed the importance of preparation, teamwork, reflection, and celebration within Crew Brunel and the wider school community. We are proud of the positive attitude and effort shown by everyone throughout the week.

As we head into a week off, we hope everyone has the chance to rest, recharge, and enjoy the sunshine. We look forward to welcoming everyone back for the final half term of the academic year and to another successful few weeks ahead.

Miss Mitchell

Last week was another full and meaningful week for Crew Brunel, with plenty of opportunities to reflect, connect, and celebrate both individual and collective successes. As always, our time together has focused not just on academic progress, but also on building character, community, and a strong sense of belonging.

Monday began with a crew check-in, where everyone had the chance to share what they had been up to over the weekend. These regular check-ins continue to be an important part of our routine, helping us strengthen relationships, develop confidence in speaking, and show genuine interest in one another’s lives. It set a calm and positive tone for the week ahead.

On Tuesday, we had an English catch-up session, focusing on reading our anchor text. This allowed students to revisit key ideas, develop their comprehension skills, and ensure they are keeping up with core learning. It was great to see students engaging thoughtfully with the material.

Wednesday marked our final Wise Wednesday session of this case study. This was an important milestone, as students reflected on what they have learned so far and began thinking ahead to how they will present their understanding. This week, we will start laying the groundwork for next week’s presentations, with students beginning to organise their ideas and consider how best to communicate them clearly and confidently.

On Thursday, we were joined by students from Crew Sinfield, which provided a valuable opportunity to collaborate beyond our usual crew. Together, we explored the themes of praise and conducts, taking time to recognise those who have consistently demonstrated positive behaviours and contributions. At the same time, we had important conversations around accountability, ensuring that those who had received conducts understood the reasons why and how they can improve moving forward. We finished the session with dedicated time on Sparx tasks, allowing students to stay focused and make progress in their independent learning.

Friday brought the whole school together for our community meeting — a real highlight of the week. This was a chance to celebrate achievements from across the school and recognise the efforts and successes of many students. Some of the key moments included:

• Celebrating students who were named Spanish Star of the Week and Artist of the Week
• Recognising Year 8 students for their successful and engaging fieldwork trip to Bletchley Park
• Showcasing students who took part in the Inside Out global photography project
• Applauding those who received the highest number of praises this week
• Sharing updates on the attendance league and recognising strong commitment to school

We ended the meeting, as always, with appreciations, apologies, and stands from both students and staff. These moments continue to be powerful in building a respectful and supportive community, where everyone has a voice and takes responsibility for their actions.

Overall, it was a positive, productive, and reflective week for Crew Brunel, and it was a fantastic way to finish before heading into the bank holiday weekend.

Miss Mitchell

This week marked Crew Brunel’s first week back after the Easter holidays, and it was all about resetting, reconnecting, and refocusing for the term ahead.

We began the week with a whole school community meeting, bringing everyone together to revisit our non-negotiables and set the tone for the term. It was an important opportunity to reflect on expectations and to look ahead at what’s coming up over the next few weeks.

Tuesday was all about preparation and accountability. We revisited our crew fundamentals, including our new timetable and equipment checks, ensuring everyone is ready to learn. Crew members also used this time productively to catch up on Sparx and Tassomai tasks, building positive habits early in the term.

On Wednesday, we were joined by Crew Attenborough for our weekly Wise Wednesday session. It was fantastic to see everyone engaged, contributing thoughtfully, and taking notes using their note catchers. The session encouraged reflection and meaningful discussion across crews.

Thursday gave us time to look closely at praise points and conduct. As a crew, we had honest discussions about what is going well and what we need to improve moving into next week. We also reviewed attendance, which has been a concern this week, and agreed that this is a key area we must all take responsibility for improving. We finished the session with a period of silent reading, accompanied by calm, relaxing music, helping everyone to reset and end the crew session on a focused and positive note.

We ended the week with another whole school community meeting. This was a chance to celebrate those who have achieved their goals, while also holding each other accountable where expectations have not been met. Appreciations and apologies were shared across all year groups, reinforcing our strong sense of community.

Overall, it has been a purposeful first week back. Crew Brunel is ready to build on this momentum and continue striving for excellence in the weeks ahead. Our main focus moving forward is improving our attendance.

Miss Mitchell

This week has been a busy and reflective one as we wrapped up the term and prepared for a well-earned break.

We started on Monday by getting ourselves organised and back on track. Crew members spent time catching up on Sparx tasks, Tassomai, and updating their DofE skills logs. It was also a chance to check in with one another and make sure everyone felt supported heading into the final days of term. In addition, students took some time to give staff their apology postcards, each including a personal pledge for how they will improve moving forward — an important step in taking responsibility and rebuilding positive relationships. As part of our DofE volunteering skills, we also took on the task of sorting through lost property. We carefully organised items and created a blog post to share key information with the wider school community, helping reunite belongings with their owners — an impactful way to give back and support others.

Tuesday brought a slight change to our usual routine. We swapped our normal Tuesday activity and instead focused on our Wise Wednesday topic. Everyone engaged well, taking thoughtful notes and contributing to discussions.

On Wednesday, we joined the rest of C30 for our community meeting. This was an important moment to reflect as a year group. We celebrated successes and recognised positive achievements across the cohort. However, we also looked closely at areas for improvement. Attendance was a key focus, with Crew Brunel currently sitting lowest in the year group — something we are determined to improve next term. We also reviewed praises and conducts data, and again, it highlighted that we have work to do, as Brunel has received the highest number of conduct points so far this term. While this was a challenging conversation, it was an important one, and we are committed to making positive changes moving forward.

Thursday gave us the opportunity to dig deeper into this data within our own crew. We spent time unpicking praises and conduct points to better understand patterns and identify how we can improve as individuals and as a crew. We also had another opportunity to catch up on Sparx tasks, ensuring everyone is as prepared as possible going into the break.

Friday was Crew Day — a fantastic way to end the term. We began with a whole-school community meeting where achievements from across all year groups were celebrated. A highlight for Crew Brunel was recognising our Crew Champion for the term: Roan, for his fantastic improvement in attendance. A huge well done to him — an achievement to be proud of!

After this, we split into year groups for our Crew Day activities. Year 9 focused on their DofE volunteering skills, with each crew taking on a task to give back to the XP community. Crew Brunel were on portfolio duty, and we took real pride in the job. We carefully organised folders and book boxes, ensuring everything was sorted into the correct crews. We then tackled loose papers, organising them into year groups and placing them alongside the appropriate folders. Finally, we cleared away waste paper and made sure everything was recycled properly. It was a great example of teamwork and responsibility in action.

Lunchtime brought a fun and memorable moment with the “sponge the teacher” event, organised by Year 11 to raise money for their prom. It was a brilliant way to bring everyone together and end the term on a high note.

To finish the day, we degunged our crew room, leaving it clean, organised, and ready for next term — a fresh start for everyone.

Now it’s time for the Easter holidays. Two weeks to rest, recharge, and enjoy time with family and friends. Have a fantastic break, and I look forward to seeing everyone back, refreshed and ready to improve!

Miss Mitchell

Crew Brunel has had another productive week, balancing community responsibility, reading, discussion, and personal reflection as we continue to grow together as a crew.

We started the week by taking time to give back to our school community through litter picking around the school grounds. As members of Crew Brunel, we understand the importance of being stewards of our environment and looking after the spaces we share every day. We worked together to tidy the school grounds, showing pride in our community and setting a positive example. Small actions like this help reinforce the values we talk about regularly in Crew: craftsmanship and quality, responsibility, and respect for our surroundings.

On the following day, we split into our classes – Admiral and Skipper – to complete some reading of our anchor text My Sister’s Keeper as part of our English catch-up. This gave everyone the opportunity to ensure they were fully up to date with the story and ready to continue exploring its themes and ideas in upcoming lessons.

We also took part in another session of our current Wise Wednesday topic, continuing to build our understanding through discussion and reflection. These sessions are always a great opportunity for the crew to think more deeply about important issues and share their perspectives.

Later in the week, we spent time reviewing our praise and conduct data. We looked at how the crew has performed across the week, the term so far, and the year so far. This is always an important moment for reflection. We celebrated those students who have consistently demonstrated positive behaviour and strong effort, recognising the achievements they have worked hard for. At the same time, we also had honest conversations about accountability, encouraging those who may have slipped to refocus and finish the term strongly.

As part of this reflection, students also completed their HoWL (Habits of Work and Learning) assessments. Everyone took time to self-assess their habits during lessons, thinking carefully about their focus, effort, organisation, and contribution. Students then peer-assessed someone from their class, providing constructive feedback to help support each other’s improvement. These reflections are an important part of helping students take ownership of their learning and recognise areas where they can continue to grow.

We finished the week with a staff day, giving students a longer weekend. This extra time will hopefully allow everyone to rest, recharge, and come back ready to perform at their best as we prepare for our POL (Presentation of Learning) next week.

Well done to Crew Brunel for another positive week — let’s come back refreshed and ready to finish strong!

Miss Mitchell

After a well-earned week off, Crew Brunel returned to school refreshed and ready to begin the second half of Term 2. We started the week with our usual crew check-in, taking the time to reconnect as a group and share what everyone had been up to during the break. Many students spoke about spending time with family, catching up with friends, and making the most of the chance to rest and recharge. It was clear that the break had done everyone some good, and it was nice to ease back into the routine by hearing about each other’s week.

On Tuesday, we used the time productively to catch up on some important learning tasks. Students spent time completing work on Sparx Maths and Tassomai, ensuring they were up to date with their independent learning. Alongside this, students also updated their Duke of Edinburgh skills logs, reflecting on the progress they are making on their volunteering skills. We also made sure there was time for reading, continuing to build positive habits and focus as we settled back into the term.

Wednesday brought something a little different for Crew Brunel. For our weekly Wise Wednesday session, we were joined by Crew Sinfield. It was great to bring the two crews together and give students the opportunity to work with different peers. Students worked in small groups, discussing the topic for the session and making notes on their ideas and reflections. The collaborative atmosphere was really positive, and it was encouraging to see students sharing perspectives and engaging thoughtfully with the discussion. Having another crew join us added a new dynamic to our usual Wednesday routine and is something we would definitely like to repeat in the future.

Later that morning, we prepared for Year 9’s fieldwork by revisiting our fieldwork norms and expectations. This is always an important part of preparing for visits beyond school, helping students understand the importance of representing themselves, their crew, and the school positively while out in the community. Once we had discussed expectations, we travelled to the Thackray Museum of Medicine in Leeds, where students took part in a day of learning linked to their current expedition, “You Give Me Fever.” The visit allowed students to explore the history of medicine, disease, and healthcare, helping them build a deeper understanding of the topics they are studying in school. Students engaged well with the exhibits and activities throughout the day, asking thoughtful questions and showing curiosity about how medicine and public health have changed over time. It was a really enjoyable and valuable day out, and Crew Brunel represented the school brilliantly.

On Thursday, Crew Brunel visited Crew Sinfield, this time to spend some time looking through praises and conducts for the week. This gave students the opportunity to celebrate positive contributions while also reflecting on areas where improvements could be made. These discussions are an important part of crew culture, encouraging accountability, reflection, and a focus on personal growth.

To round off the week, we joined the rest of XP School for a whole-school community meeting. These meetings are a key part of life at XP and give both students and staff the opportunity to come together as a community. During the meeting, people shared their positives from the week, celebrating acts of kindness and achievements across the school. Some students also took the opportunity to apologise for actions earlier in the week and made pledges about how they would put things right moving forward. It was a powerful reminder of the importance of responsibility and learning from our mistakes.

Overall, it has been a busy and productive first week back for Crew Brunel. The combination of collaboration, academic focus, and real-world learning has helped set a positive tone for the term ahead. We are looking forward to continuing to develop our learning, strengthen our crew culture, and build on this strong start as we head into Week 2 of this shorter half term.

Miss Mitchell